Perhaps "slasher" in this case means, "I don't have a reliable jumper, so I need to get closer to the rim any way possible".

But doesn't it usually imply slashing to the rim to receive a pass? He only gets to the rim when he is driving with the ball in his hands. When he doesn't have the ball in his hands he's pretty stagnant isn't he?

Not only that, but he really hasn't been complaining to the refs at all this season.

ya i have been watching & everytime Demar drives & gets any kind of pressure he flings his arms looking for calls he rarely gets..& everytime demar hits the floor, throws his arms up & bitches to the refs, quite a bit of times leaving his man to run the floor the other way with NO body on them..Ive seen it happen regularly..albeit less during the recent team success.

im glad u put a link to the stats you use for derozans efficiency at the rim...if u look on the same site stats for T.Ross youll see hes converting 69% at the rim as a Rookie...Soo the one thing Demar is good at T.Ross is Better athttp://www.basketball-reference.com/...shooting/2013/

According to Basketball Reference, 42 of his 78 makes at the Rim were Assisted. So I'd say it happens fairly regularly.

But does that include open breaks and lobs? In half courts sets I don't remember him as moving well without the ball...like say for examle Landry Fields early in the season when he seemed to get a few buckets each game with those baseline cuts.

ya i have been watching & everytime Demar drives & gets any kind of pressure he flings his arms looking for calls he rarely gets..& everytime demar hits the floor, throws his arms up & bitches to the refs, quite a bit of times leaving his man to run the floor the other way with NO body on them..Ive seen it happen regularly.

Disagree with this. All of it. Not what I've seen at all.
Last year this may have been the case, but not this year. Not from what I've seen.

DoNDaDDa wrote:

im glad u put a link to the stats you use for derozans efficiency at the rim...if u look on the same site stats for T.Ross youll see hes converting 69% at the rim as a Rookie...Soo the one thing Demar is good at T.Ross is Better athttp://www.basketball-reference.com/...shooting/2013/

I don't really want to get into comparing the two of them, as I'm a huge supporter of both guys.

But just to play your game here.. Terrence Ross' Strength is shooting from distance, ya?
And yet Demar is far better shooting from 10ft-15ft, and 16ft to the 3pt line (Combined Demar is at 39.6%, compared to Ross 32.8%). And on top of that Ross's 33% from 3 is nothing to brag about.

Again, don't get me wrong, Love me some TRoss and have supported him from the minute he was picked, but this whole notion that Ross makes Demar expendable is ridiculous in my opinion.

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

I suppose this statement might be true if we look past this season, and project yearly improvement in Ross's game.

If Ross turns into a legit shooting guard, and Gay is acquired via trade, then I would certainly conclude that DeRozan is expendable.

I agree. Long-term, I see Gay/Ross being a better fit than Gay/DeRozan.

As much as DeRozan has improved, I still think he's a little overrated by Raptors fans and not worth his new contract. I fear him ultimately suffering the same fate as Bargnani, in that he's not a true #1 guy who's been forced to become the face/cornerstone/#1 guy of the franchise by management. He's still very inconsistent, inefficient, subpar defensively and at the 3pt line, despite his improvements this season.

I would be happy with the folllowing:
1. Trade DeRozan & Calderon for Gay (and likely Selby, since they already have 4 PGs before adding Calderon)
2. Trade Bargnani (as much as I have defended him, he and Toronto need a divorce)
3. Trade Anderson (he's 30, at peak value and not in the team's long-term plans)
4. Trade Pietrus (some playoff team might like his veteran defense & 3pt shooting)
5. Trade Kleiza or amnesty him next offseason (ESPN had an Insider rumor today about Kleiza being a top amnesty candidate)

I think the Raps would be in pretty decent shape heading into next offseason, where they could potentially target a free agent PF, if they aren't satisfied with Davis as the starter (especially if Bargnani amounts to a salary dump and Kleiza is amnestied).

And with the way Rudy has regressed this year, its makes it even easier for me to take Demar going forward. Ignoring contracts.
However, keeping contracts in mind, Demar is now a no-brainer over Rudy. In my crazy opinion.
The only thing Rudy will have over Demar when Demar is 26, is an inch in height, and alot more money from his crazy Max-contract.

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

And with the way Rudy has regressed this year, its makes it even easier for me to take Demar going forward. Ignoring contracts.
However, keeping contracts in mind, Demar is now a no-brainer over Rudy. In my crazy opinion.
The only thing Rudy will have over Demar when Demar is 26, is an inch in height, and alot more money from his crazy Max-contract.

I don't have any statistical evidence to support this, but I feel DeMar's numbers are inflated (due to high usage with the Raptors), and Gay's numbers lowered (due to sharing touches with ZBo/Gasol...two legit allstars).

But at the end of the day, the most important distinction between DeMar and Gay is Gay's ability to create something out of nothing. He's a closer. You can clear out the floor and give him the ball in an ISO situation, with the clock winding down, and say "create a shot....win us the game". We haven't had such a weapon since Vince quit (approaching 8 years).

I don't have any statistical evidence to support this, but I feel DeMar's numbers are inflated (due to high usage with the Raptors), and Gay's numbers lowered (due to sharing touches with ZBo/Gasol...two legit allstars).

But at the end of the day, the most important distinction between DeMar and Gay is Gay's ability to create something out of nothing. He's a closer. You can clear out the floor and give him the ball in an ISO situation, with the clock winding down, and say "create a shot....win us the game". We haven't had such a weapon since Vince quit (approaching 8 years).

Rudy Gay leads Memphis in usage rate with a career-high of 25.84, his TS% is a career-low 48.7, 44% of his shots are assisted. Inside 9 ft he shoots 53.8% on 6.5 attempts per game. Between 10-23ft Rudy shoots 39.2% on 5.6 attempts. 32.3 3P% on 3.3 attempts. 0.25 FT rate, second lowest in his career. Career high is 0.31

Would his FG% not be reflective of this though? Feels like it should. But at 41% on the season, Rudy is shooting at lower clip than any FG% Demar has ever averaged as a Pro.

bobbybutler wrote:

Rudy Gay leads Memphis in usage rate with a career-high of 25.84, his TS% is a career-low 48.7, 44% of his shots are assisted. Inside 9 ft he shoots 53.8% on 6.5 attempts per game. Between 10-23ft Rudy shoots 39.2% on 5.6 attempts. 32.3 3P% on 3.3 attempts. 0.25 FT rate, second lowest in his career. Career high is 0.31

Rudy Gay leads Memphis in usage rate with a career-high of 25.84, his TS% is a career-low 48.7, 44% of his shots are assisted. Inside 9 ft he shoots 53.8% on 6.5 attempts per game. Between 10-23ft Rudy shoots 39.2% on 5.6 attempts. 32.3 3P% on 3.3 attempts. 0.25 FT rate, second lowest in his career. Career high is 0.31